Starcraft – What gameplay behaviors are random

starcraft-2

SC2 is a deterministic game in the sense that there is nothing left to chance. No units get a "20% chance to cause bonus" or anything like that. The same keystrokes will always yield exactly the same result.

But there are some elements which have an element of randomness. The importance of this is that there are still some elements of the game which cannot be predicted. I'd love to see a list. Here are a couple I can think of right now:

  1. Starting situation (spawn location, map, ladder opponent)
  2. When an SCV is constructing a building, it moves in seemingly random patterns during construction. If you're lucky, the SCV will move where he can't get sniped.

There are other random things but don't affect the game, like the appearance of a dark templar (scythe or no scythe).

Best Answer

Interesting question. I can think of the following (with 1, 2, 3 and 5 already mentioned by you):

  1. Starting locations.
  2. Choice of opponent(s).
  3. Map choice, if it's random.
  4. Race choice, if it's random.
  5. SCV movement while building.
  6. Larva movement.
  7. Larvae location after injection is done.
  8. Creep spread around a creep-generating point.
  9. The time it takes to burrow and unburrow.
  10. Interceptor movement pattern (take a look at this video - if it wasn't random, all interceptors would have probably taken the same route after the first attack, but they don't).
  11. Also, I'm pretty sure there's also a small variance on the viking transformation duration - see this related question.

In any case, while items 5 to 11 do have some concrete gameplay effect, I'd say their impact is very low.

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